He Needs to Know
by sg1princess8
Summary: Jessie wakes up to find Buzz trying to recall his lost memories from Sunnyside. She gives him her side of the story, and helps him through his struggle of coming to terms with what happened. One-shot


**A/N: So, I clearly have way too much time on my hands, and I've been bitten by the writing bug, so I guess that results in me cranking out these stories faster than they can be read.**

 **I decided to try my take on Jessie telling Buzz about Sunnyside. I know it's been done to death, but I feel like I haven't seen many people touch on Jessie's feelings, or actually have her account of what happened. I wanted to go deeper into that.**

 **I would** ** _love_** **a review of what you think. Even if you hate it. But I hope you don't. Either way, thanks for reading!**

 **P.S. No beta, so all mistakes are mine. But if you want to maybe help me out next time, I would love a beta! Let me know!**

* * *

It was dark when Jessie woke up, and she looked around to figure out what could have woken her. The first thing she noticed was that her favorite pair of plastic arms were no longer around her, the way they had been when she fell asleep. She turned to her side and saw that Buzz was no longer there, and she wondered where the Space Ranger could have gone.

Sitting up, she took a quick survey of the room, but saw no sign of him anywhere. She stood up, taking extra care not to wake any of the other toys, or her new owner Bonnie, and used the bedpost to slide down to the floor below. A quick glance told her that Buzz wasn't under the bed, and that she was going to have to look harder if she was going to find him. Walking out into the middle of the room again, she looked for any sign of his faint green glow. It was then that she noticed that the bedroom door was slightly ajar.

Jessie sighed, realizing she was probably going to have to check the whole house for the MIA Ranger. Checking behind her one more time to make sure no one had woken up, Jessie slipped out the door and out into the hall.

Her first stop was the kitchen, but she saw no green glow that would give tell of her space man. He wasn't in the dining room either. Finally, Jessie saw a flash of white and green from inside the living room, and she wondered why she hadn't thought to check there in the first place.

Slowly, as not to disturb him, Jessie crept up next to the couch, trying to see what he was doing. When she finally caught sight of him, she felt her heart sink. Buzz was sitting with his back against the couch and his feet out in front of him, one arm folded across his body as the other balanced on top of it. His head hung in shame, resting between his thumb and his pointer finger; he looked completely dejected.

"Buzz?" Jessie called softly, hoping he wouldn't be mad at her for sneaking up on him. She hated seeing the toy she loved so distraught.

His head shot up in her direction as his eyes became wide with realization.

"Jess, when did you get here?" His voice was more distant than Jessie would have liked.

"Um, just a second ago. I can leave if ya want." She turned to go, flustered by what could be the cause of Buzz's current state.

"Please don't." His voice was soft, and if she hadn't been listening for it, she might have missed it.

Jessie turned to look at him, and soon he pulled himself to the edge of the couch and offered a hand to help her up. Hesitantly, she took his help and they settled into the couch again, falling silent.

"Do ya wanna tell me what's wrong?" Jessie asked after a few minutes, unable to bare the silence any longer.

Buzz sighed, wringing his hands together as he tried to put his emotions into words.

"I don't like not knowing." He started, leaving Jessie still slightly confused what they were talking about.

"What's there ta know?" Jessie encouraged.

"Everything. That's the problem. The last thing I remember, that big baby was holding me down as Lotso instructed the other toys how to reset me. After that, everything went black. The next thing I remember is waking up in the trash truck next to you. I know you guys told me nothing important happened during that time, but I can't help but think that isn't completely true. I feel like I'm missing something important, and I just want to get it back." Buzz finally looked at Jessie, and she knew she was going to have to tell him the truth. He deserved to know.

Jessie tugged on her braid, not sure if she was ready to recount all the details, but she knew she owed it to him. "You're right, we left a lot out. But you should know that we did it to protect you. We love you, _I_ love you, and nothin' that happened at Sunnyside can change that." She bit her lip, trying to stop it from quivering.

"Please tell me Jess, I need to know." Buzz placed a hand on her knee and looked at her expectantly.

"It started right after ya left to go ask Lotso for a transfer. We heard a noise while we were waiting for you to return, so Mrs. Potato Head used her eye to check under the door to see what it was. That was when we found out that Andy _did_ want to keep us, and that he really _was_ tryin' to put us in the attic. We realized we had made a big mistake, and we just needed to find you so that we could go home." Jessie sighed, knowing this is where the story got hard. "Next thing we knew, Lotso was tellin' us that we couldn't leave. When I asked him who was going to stop us, I found myself face to face with you, but you weren't yourself anymore." She heard a slight gasp from Buzz, but continued before she could convince herself not to. "One by one you took us out, using Slinky's coils to dog pile us, telling Lotso that you had disabled the prisoners. I tried ta ask ya what you were doin', but you cut me off, callin' us 'minions fo Zurg', and tellin' us that we were in the custody of the Galactic Alliance. I think that is when we realized that Lotso had done something to ya, because you clearly didn't recognize us anymore."

"Jess, I'm so sorry..." Buzz started, but Jessie put her hand on his to cut him off.

"It gets worse." She saw his eyes go wide and she knew she needed to keep going, for both their sakes. "You and Lotso's minions used storage baskets to lock us up. I tried ta reach out to you again, hopin' to convince you to see what was going on." Jessie found herself smiling at the next part. "'Spare me your lies tempress. Your emperor is defeated, and I'm immune to your bewitching good looks.'" Jessie was surprised to hear herself slightly chuckle. "As bad as the situation was, when you said that, I knew the real you, _my_ Buzz, was in there somewhere."

"I guess I'm attracted to you, no matter how loopy I get." Buzz tried to laugh, but it was hollow, knowing that he had hurt the people he loved.

"Yeah, we're gettin' there." Jessie found it amusing that they could be flirting, even when talking about such a painful subject. She found herself wanting to rush the story to get to his next persona but she knew he wanted details. "Potato Head ended up getting himself thrown in 'the box', the sandbox on the playground they used as a detention spot. Lotso had you explain all the rules to us, and me being me, ended up givin' ya sass." Jessie shuttered at the thought. "I've never seen such a scary look in your eyes before, especially directed at me, but I guess I was askin' for it." She felt Buzz tense next to her, she knew he wasn't going to like that part. "That's when Lotso decided that was the perfect time to convince us that Woody was… dead." Even now, knowing it wasn't true, the memory still sung. "Somehow he had Woody's hat, and used it to made us believe that if we didn't listen to the rules, we would share in his fate. Then they finally left us alone, for what felt like the longest night of my life. I thought we had lost Woody, and with you bein' all 'Yes, Sir' and 'No, Sir' to Lotso, we had basically lost you too. All I knew was that I had lost my two best friends in one night, and I didn't know what we were gonna do ta get you back." Jessie gave his hand a light squeeze before continuing.

"The next day, we were shocked ta see that Woody was still alive, and he had a plan to get us out. Potato Head was to distract ya'll, and hopefully the monkey, their "eyes in the sky", long enough for Woody to bust Slinky out, and then get himself thrown in 'the box' again. Once Woody and Slinky took out the monkey and got the keys, Hamm and Rex pretended to fight so that we could distract you and trap ya while we figured out how to fix you. Once Potato Head gave us the all clear from the Butterfly Room, and Woody got us the key, the Mrs., the triplets, Bullseye and me snuck out the the rendezvous point. Barbie had convinced Ken to take her back to his dream house, and it was up to her to figure out what Lotso had done to you. I guess whatever they did worked, in a way, 'cause next time I saw ya, you were different again." Jessie couldn't help but blush.

"But I wasn't myself yet?" Buzz questioned, not sure where she was going with this.

"No, whatever they did stopped ya from trying to imprison us, but suddenly you were makin' less sense than b'fore." She stopped stopped to giggle again. "Somehow they activated your Spanish mode." Jessie pursed her lips, holding back yet another giggle.

"I guess that explains that dance the other day, but I don't get what's so funny." Buzz looked at her, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Remember how ya said you must be attracted to me, no matter how loopy you got?" Jessie smiled.

"Yeah?" Buzz was still lost.

"This side of ya was much more obvious about it than you had ever been." Jessie smirked at him.

"Oh." Buzz felt a blush rise over his face and waited for Jessie to continue.

"As soon as we met up at the rendezvous point, you fell to your knees in front of me and grabbed my hand. I don't know what you were sayin' to me, but it sure sounded awful sweet. Potato Head showed up finally, but none of us recognized him, because he was attached to a zucchini instead of the tortilla we had given him. You got all protective over me and pressed me up again the wall and used your body ta shield me until you knew he was a friend. I have to admit, it was cute seeing you be all overly protective and forward about your feelin's." Jessie gave him a smirk before she continued. "Once Potato Head got himself back together, we started off towards the trash shoot, only we ended up getting separated again. Woody, Bullseye and the triplets got cut off before they could make it to the bushes, so the rest of us waited for them there." Jessie gave Buzz another look he couldn't decipher. "It was cute, while we waited, you ended up doin' this sultry Spanish dance around me. You ended up pullin' me into your arms and spouting off some more nonsense I didn't understand, but it sure gave me some butterflies. I think you ended up gettin' jealous of Woody, 'cause he caught up and the next thing I knew you were showin' off, opening up the trash shoot all by yourself." Buzz chuckled, that did sound like something he would do. "Lotso ended up stoppin' us before we could fully escape, but Woody had learned somethin' about his past that set him and Big Baby off. Big Baby ended up throwin' Lotso in the dumpster and we made our break for it. But one of those darn triplets got their foot stuck and when Woody went to help them Lotso pulled him into the dumpster. When the trash truck came, we all jumped on to try and save Woody. That's how we ended up in the trash truck."

"How did you guys end up switching me back?" Buzz was almost completely caught up now.

"Blunt force trauma." Jessie teased.

"What?!" Buzz couldn't believe his friends would resort to hitting him to try and fix him.

"Hehe, I had gotten stuck under some trash, and with more coming in, you ran ta save me. You pulled me up into your arms to try and run out of the way faster, but it wasn't enough. The Mrs. screamed and we saw a TV was about to fall on us. You tossed me ta safety right before the TV landed on you, knocking you unconscious." Jessie voice grew softer as she continued. "I was really worried we might have lost ya, but right before we gave up hope you twitched all funny like and woke up. From there, you know the rest." Jessie nodded as she finished. She felt a weight lift off her chest, happy that he finally knew everything and they wouldn't have to be careful what they said around him.

"Wow." Buzz looked off towards the open room, and Jessie gave him a moment to process everything he had just heard.

Suddenly he turned to her, taking both her hands in his as his face grew serious. "Jess, I'm so sorry for everything I put you through, for hurting you. That is the last thing I would ever want to do. If there is anything, anything at all I can do to make it up to you, name it, and I'll do it." Jessie saw the pain and sadness in his eyes, and knew she needed to make him see clearly.

She gently pulled one of her hands from his and placed it on his cheek. "Oh ya silly space toy, don'tcha see? You already did." Jessie gave him a soft smile.

Buzz could only look at her, confused and hoping she would explain.

"You came back to me. That's all I wanted the whole time. I wanted _my_ Buzz. Not some flirty Spanish you, and obviously not the deranged you that barely knew who I was. All I wanted was ta get you back, because through it all, I realized just how much I need you in my life. It made me realize I was done with that silly game we had been playin' for all those years, and I was ready to admit, whether you were or not, that I was in love with you. Especially after we all almost died at the dump." She used her thumb to caress his cheek.

"Even after I turned against you guys, my family? How did you not hate me? I think I hate me." He couldn't look her in the eyes.

"Oh no you don't mister." Jessie forced him to look at her. "You had no control over that. Lotso _used_ you. He saw you as a pawn he could use in his little quest for power. You can't take credit for him abusing you." Jessie hoped he understood.

"I could have been stronger, I could have fought back more. A real Space Ranger wouldn't have let themselves get into that mess." He trailed off as he diverted his eyes away from her again.

"And if ya were a real Space Ranger, then we wouldn't be here, now would we." Jessie moved her head so she could look in his eyes again, trying to get through to him. "I get it, I know you Buzz. It's in your programming to be a protector, but that doesn't mean that you have to be strong one hundred percent off the time. Without even bein' there, I know you fought them as hard as you could. But ya couldn't have known you were walkin' into a trap. Please don't let this definite you, because as far as I'm concerned, you are still the same Buzz I fell in love with back in Andy's room. You are still the same Buzz that helped save me from a insane toy and a lifeless future in Japan. The same Buzz who gives one hundred and ten percent of himself to his friends at all times, and expects nothin' in return. What they did to you didn't change who you are, but if you let it change how you feel about yourself, then they've still won."

"So you forgive me?" Buzz looked hopefully into her eyes. He wanted to believe everything she told him, but something was holding him back.

"That's what I'm trying to say Buzz, there's nothin' to forgive. I don't hate ya, and neither do any of the others. And you shouldn't either. We've been given a second chance, together. I prefer to move forward from what happened and see what this new life has in store for me. I'd like it if you were there by my side, partner."

Buzz felt the last of his resolve break away. She was right, things couldn't have gone any different, but he could be thankful for how they ended. He had a great kid with a big imagination who would play with them for years to come. He had his family by his side, including his best friend. And he had the woman he loved, finally by his side, like she should be. He would be crazy not to move forward and let bygones be bygones.

"You're right Jess. I don't know what I would do without you." He gave her hand a squeeze and covered her hand on his face with his own.

"Good thing we don't have ta find out." She winked at him. "Now what do ya say we go back ta bed with the others. It's sure nice ta sleep on a bed again after all these years." She started to stand and tried to pull him with her.

"Not just yet." He gently tugged her back down to the couch.

"You still have somethin' on your mind?" Jessie asked, just as concerned as before.

"You were open with me, now I want to be open with you. There is something I have been wanting to do for a long time, and after tonight I only want to do it more." He blushed slightly.

"What's that?" Jessie couldn't figure out what he would be talking about, so she looked at him, puzzled.

Buzz smiled at her and licked his bottom lip as he leaned in and gently pressed his lips to hers for the first time. Jessie stiffened, only momentarily, before relaxing against him and wrapping her arms around his neck. Buzz rested his hands on her hips, and there they stayed for the next few minutes.

As they pulled away, breathing slightly heavier than before, Buzz rested his forehead against Jessie's and smiled. "I love you, Cowgirl. Thank you, for always believing in me."

"Just thought I would return the favor." He needed to explanation. They had both been through so much in their lives, if that's what you could call them. But together, they made each other stronger. Together that could face any challenge that came at them. And from now on, together is where they would be.


End file.
